2003–04 Football League Cup

2003–04 League Cup
Country England
Teams 92
Champions Middlesbrough
Runner-up Bolton Wanderers
Matches played 93

The 2003–04 Football League Cup was the 44th staging of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The competition was sponsored by lager brand Carling and therefore officially known as the 2003–04 Carling Cup.

The competition began in August 2003 and ended with the final on 29 February 2004. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosted the final match, as it had done since 2001 as the reconstruction was still taking place on Wembley Stadium in London.

The winners were Middlesbrough who beat Bolton Wanderers in the final 2-1 and collected their first major piece of silverware in their history and as a result of their victory qualified for European football for the first time. Joseph Desire-Job gave Middlesbrough the lead with just 2 minutes gone and a Bolo Zenden penalty five minutes later doubled their advantage. Kevin Davies pulled a goal back in the 21st minute but Middlesbrough held on. It was to be until 2008 when another English manager won a domestic tournament when Harry Redknapp (then at Portsmouth) lifted the F.A. Cup.

Contents

First round

North
Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Barnsley 1 – 2 Blackpool 5,378
2 Bradford 0 – 0 Darlington 4,077
0 – 0 after extra time — Darlington win 5 – 3 on penalties
3 Chesterfield 0 – 0 Burnley 2,928
0 – 0 after extra time — Burnley win 3 – 2 on penalties
4 Crewe 2 – 0 Wrexham 3,152
5 Doncaster Rovers 3 – 2 Grimsby Town 6,057
6 Huddersfield Town 2 – 1 Derby County 6,672
7 Lincoln City 0 – 1 Stockport County 2,296
8 Macclesfield Town 1 – 2 Sheffield United 2,764
9 Port Vale 0 – 0 Nottingham Forest 4,950
0 – 0 after extra time — Nottingham Forest win 3 – 1 on penalties
10 Preston North End 0 – 0 Notts County 5,016
0 – 0 after extra time — Notts County win 7 – 6 on penalties
11 Rotherham United 2 – 1 York City 2,919
12 Scunthorpe United 2 – 1 Oldham Athletic 2,366
13 Tranmere Rovers 1 – 0 Bury 4,272
14 Walsall 2 – 1 Carlisle United 4,665
15 Wigan Athletic 2 – 0 Hull City 3,295
16 Mansfield Town 1 – 2 Sunderland
17 Sheffield Wednesday 1 – 1 Hartlepool United 13,410
2 - 2 after extra time, Hartlepool win 5 - 4 on penalties
18 Stoke City 2 – 1 Rochdale 4,678
South
Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Bristol Rovers 0 – 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 5,518
2 Cambridge United 1 – 2 Gillingham 3,044
3 Cardiff 4 – 1 Leyton Orient 4,503
4 Cheltenham 1 – 2 QPR 3,697
5 Colchester 2 – 1 Plymouth 2,367
6 Luton Town 4 – 1 Yeovil Town 4,337
7 Millwall 0 – 1 Oxford United 4,781
8 Northampton Town 1 – 0 Norwich City 5,476
9 Southend United 2 – 3 Swindon Town 3,385
10 Torquay United 1 – 1 Crystal Palace 3,366
0 – 0 after extra time — Crystal Palace win 3 – 1 on penalties
11 Watford 0 – 0 Bournemouth 9,561
Watford win 1 – 0 after extra time
12 West Bromwich Albion 4 – 0 Brentford 10,440
13 Wycombe Wanderers 2 – 0 MK Dons 1,986
14 Boston United 1 – 3 Reading 2,055
15 Bristol City 1 – 1 Swansea City 5,807
Bristol City win 4 – 1 after extra time
16 Coventry City 2 – 0 Peterborough United 8,280
17 Ipswich Town 0 – 0 Kidderminster Harriers 11,118
Ipswich win 1 – 0 after extra time
18 West Ham 3 – 1 Rushden & Diamonds 13,715

1 Score after 90 minutes

Second round

The 36 winners from the First Round joined 16 of the 20 Premier League clubs not participating in the UEFA Champions League in Round Two.

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Blackpool 1 – 0 Birmingham City 7,370
2 Bristol City 0 – 0 Watford 5,213
Bristol City win 1 – 0 after extra time
3 Cardiff City 2 – 3 West Ham 10,724
4 Charlton Athletic 3 – 3 Luton Town 10,905
4 – 4 after extra time - Charlton Athletic win 8 - 7 on penalties
5 Crystal Palace 2 – 1 Doncaster Rovers 4,904
6 Hartlepool United 1 – 2 West Bromwich Albion 5,265
7 Leicester City 1 – 0 Crewe Alexandra 27,675
8 Notts County 2 – 1 Ipswich Town 4,059
9 Portsmouth 5 – 2 Northampton Town 11,130
10 Rotherham United 1 – 0 Colchester United 2,474
11 Scunthorpe United 2 – 3 Burnley 2,915
12 Sheffield United 0 – 2 QPR 9,578
13 Stoke City 0 – 2 Gillingham 4,607
14 Sunderland 2 – 4 Huddersfield Town 13,516
15 Tranmere Rovers 0 – 0 Nottingham Forest 4,477
0 – 0 after extra time - Nottingham Forest win 4 - 1 on penalties
16 Wigan Athletic 1 – 0 Fulham 4,874
17 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 – 0 Darlington 10,232
18 Wycombe Wanderers 0 – 5 Aston Villa 6,072
19 Bolton Wanderers 3 – 1 Walsall 5,229
20 Coventry City 0 – 3 Tottenham Hotspur 15,474
21 Everton 3 – 0 Stockport County 19,807
22 Leeds United 2 – 2 Swindon Town 29,211
2 – 2 after extra time - Leeds United win 4 - 3 on penalties
23 Middlesbrough 0 – 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 10,435
Middlesbrough win 1 – 0 after extra time
24 Oxford United 1 – 3 Reading 9,870

1 Score after 90 minutes

Third round

Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle United joined the 24 winners from the Second Round. Matches were played on the week commencing 27 October 2003

Tie no Home team Score1 Away team Attendance
1 Aston Villa 1 – 0 Leicester City 26,729
2 Blackburn Rovers 3 – 4 Liverpool 16,918
3 Chelsea 4 – 2 Notts County 35,997
4 Everton 1 – 0 Charlton Athletic 24,863
5 Newcastle United 1 – 1 West Bromwich Albion 46,932
West Bromwich Albion win 2 – 1 after extra time
6 Nottingham Forest 2 – 4 Portsmouth 20,078
7 Tottenham Hotspur 0 – 0 West Ham
Tottenham Hotspur win 1 – 0 after extra time
8 Wigan Athletic 1 – 2 Middlesbrough 8,046
9 Arsenal 1 – 1 Rotherham United 27,451
1 – 1 after extra time - Arsenal win 9 - 8 on penalties
10 Blackpool 1 – 3 Crystal Palace 6,010
11 Bolton Wanderers 2 – 1 Gillingham 5,258
12 Bristol City 1 – 3 Southampton 17,408
13 Leeds United 1 – 1 Manchester United 37,546
Manchester United win 3 – 2 after extra time
14 QPR 0 – 3 Manchester City 16,773
15 Reading 1 – 0 Huddersfield Town 11,892
16 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 – 0 Burnley 18,548

1 Score after 90 minutes

Fourth round

2003-12-03
Aston Villa 3 – 0 Crystal Palace Villa Park, Birmingham
Attendance: 24,258
Referee: Mike Dean
Symons(og)  22'
McCann 70'
Angel 79'

2003-12-03
Liverpool 2 – 3 Bolton Wanderers Anfield, Liverpool
Attendance: 33,185
Referee: Mike Riley
Murphy  66'
Smicer  88'
Jardel 4'
Okacha  79'
Djorkaeff  90'(p)

2003-12-03
Middlesbrough 0 – 0 (a.e.t.)
5 – 4p
Everton Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
Attendance: 18,568
Referee: Mark Halsey

2003-12-03
Reading 0 – 1 Chelsea Madejski Stadium, Reading
Attendance: 24,107
Referee: Steve Bennett (referee)
Hasselbaink  57'

2003-12-03
Tottenham Hotspur 3 – 1 Manchester City White Hart Lane, London
Attendance: 31,727
Referee: Paul Durkin
Anderton  9'
Postiga  30'
Kanoute  90'
Fowler  80'

2003-12-03
West Bromwich Albion 2 – 0 Manchester United The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
Attendance: 25,282
Referee: Jeff Winter
Haas  6'
Dobie  56'

2003-12-02
Arsenal 5 – 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Highbury, London
Attendance: 28,161
Referee: Dermot Gallagher
Aliadiere  24' 71'
Kanu  68'
Wiltord  79'
Fàbregas  88'
Rae  81'

2003-12-02
Southampton 2 – 0 Portsmouth St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton
Attendance: 16,791
Referee: Graham Poll
Beattie  33' 90'

Fifth round

The draw for the fifth round was made on 6 December 2003. Matches were played in the week beginning 15 December 2003. The only team from outside the Premier League competing in this round was West Bromwich Albion, who lost 2-0 to Arsenal.

2003-12-16
20:00
West Bromwich Albion 0 – 2 Arsenal The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
Attendance: 20,369
Referee: Matt Messias (West Yorkshire)
Kanu  25'
Aliadiere  57'

2003-12-16
20:00
Bolton 1 – 0 (a.e.t.) Southampton Reebok Stadium, Bolton
Attendance: 13,957
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
Pedersen  115'

2003-12-17
19:45
Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 1
(a.e.t.)
4 – 5p
Middlesbrough White Hart Lane, London
Attendance: 25,307
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Anderton  2' M. Ricketts  86'

2003-12-17
19:45
Aston Villa 2 - 1 Chelsea Villa Park, Birmingham
Attendance: 30,414
Referee: Neale Barry (North Lincolnshire)
Angel  16'
McCann  78'
H. Crespo  69'

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made on 20 December 2003 Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The ties were played in the weeks beginning 19 January and 20 January 26 January 2003, however the second leg of Middlesbrough v Arsenal was not played until 3 February 2003.

First leg

2004-01-20
Arsenal 0 – 1 Middlesbrough Highbury, London
Attendance: 31,070
Referee: Steve Dunn
Juninho  53'

2004-01-21
Bolton Wanderers 5 – 2 Aston Villa Reebok Stadium, Bolton
Attendance: 16,302
Referee: Paul Durkin
Okocha  2'80'
Nolan  9'
Giannakopoulos  17'
N'Gotty  74'
Angel  20'56'

Second leg

2004-01-27
Aston Villa 2 – 0 Bolton Wanderers Villa Park, Birmingham
Attendance: 36,883
Referee: Steve Bennett
Hitzlsperger  10'
Samuel  88'

Bolton Wanderers won 5–4 on aggregate.


2004-02-03
Middlesbrough 2 – 1 Arsenal Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
Attendance: 28,781
Referee: Dermot Gallagher
Zenden  69'
Reyes  85' (o.g.)
Edu  77'

Middlesbrough won 3–1 on aggregate.

Final

The 2004 Carling Cup Final was played on 24 February 2004 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was contested by Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough won the match 2-1 and in doing so collected their first major piece of silverware in their history and qualified for the European football in the UEFA Cup for the first time.

2004-02-29
14:00
Bolton Wanderers 1 – 2 Middlesbrough Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 72,634
Referee: Mike Riley (West Yorkshire)
Davies  21' Report Job  2'
Zenden  7' (pen.)

See also

External links